


Recovered

by cecelej



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, THEY LOVE EACH OTHER OKAY?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-12 23:59:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14738249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecelej/pseuds/cecelej
Summary: '... his body vibrated toward the left corridor and he flung himself down that hallway. He could hear Kolivan roaring into his ears, scolding him for his mistake. For his choice. But Keith wouldn’t turn back. The Blade would have to leave without him. He couldn’t say no to . . . whatever was calling him down the long, dark, hall.'





	Recovered

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaaaaand she's back. not with what you wanted, or what you deserved, but with a quick one-shot.  
> Enjoy

Keith’s whole body told him to go left. Every cell in his body ached to make the turn. In his ear, Kolivan barked the same order. ‘RIGHT. TURN RIGHT.’ The voice was all gravel and seriousness. There was no room for error, no room for impulsiveness. 

But his body vibrated toward the left corridor and he flung himself down that hallway. He could hear Kolivan roaring into his ears, scolding him for his mistake. For his choice. But Keith wouldn’t turn back. The Blade would have to leave without him. He couldn’t say no to . . . whatever was calling him down the long, dark, hall. 

His footsteps echoed like gunshots on the metal floor and he could hear more footsteps rushing toward him from the other end of the hall. He scanned the ceiling, spotting a loose vent and throwing himself toward it. He never stopped, continuing to move through the vent and not pausing to see who was pursuing him. 

He had to know what was calling to him. He had to know why there was fire in his veins like he hadn’t felt. . . hadn’t felt since they’d first defeated Zarkon. He crawled through the vents, quiet as a cat, until he heard voices. 

He slid up to each vent silently until he found where the voices were coming from.

The voices were mature, stern, muffled through medical masks. Two tall Galra medics were talking, or maybe communicating was a better word for it. They worked separately, each doing their own tasks, but they spoke aloud, maybe to a recording system, maybe to each other. 

 

“Prepping injection 435.”  
“Sample 298 has rejected.”  
“The sedative should be wearing out.”  
“Preparing needle for third extraction.”  
“Bring in the control.”

 

Keith heard Kolivan counting down the ship for launch. 30 ticks. But he didn’t move. He felt electricity shooting through his spine. His fingers had moved to the vent cover, ready to crash through it. He was shaking. He knew what was coming through the door. He knew ‘who’ was coming through the door.

Strapped onto a metal gurney, was what Keith had been unknowingly looking for this whole time. He’d thought he was running away, running from Voltron and his team. But he was running toward this the whole time. He felt his vision tunnel as he stared at the soft, sleeping boy in the Galra’s possession. 

“Shiro,” Keith said, the word falling from his lips like a ghost. 

“Shit,” Kolivan swore on the other line, knowing this was the end of their mission together. Keith would never leave Shiro. “Stopping countdown,” Kolivan said, defeated. He couldn’t return without Keith. Their alliance with Voltron would be over. He grit his teeth in frustration. His mission was as good as compromised. 

“Two minutes,” Keith whispered. He didn’t wait for Kolivan’s answer before slamming his booted feet against the vent and sending it crashing into one of the medical examiners. 

Chaos filled the room, the examiners shouting and trying to fight off Keith. He was tiny compared to their tall, lean bodies, but he weaved through them, making them trip over each other enough to get in a few good hits. 

“Shiro!” he called out when the examiners lay on the floor amongst their broken beakers and potions. 

Shiro’s eyes were cracked open, unfocused and slowly panning around the room. 

“Shiro! Shiro, wake up! Shiro, it’s me!” Keith rasped out at Shiro’s side. His hand went to Shiro’s jaw, all stubble and dry skin. His lips were chapped and his hair was shaggy. Keith’s eyes moved down, noticing that Shiro’s galra arm was missing. They’d taken his only weapon.  
Shiro’s eyes focused on Keith, still half lidded, and he managed a weak smile. 

“I know this one,” Shiro whispered. “Where you save me from the Garrison. Before we found the blue lion.” His smile faded, his eyebrows turning down in confusion. “But we already gave him this one. I don’t want to see it again. I don’t want to give him this again.” 

Shiro tipped his head away, eyes scrunching closed. 

“Don’t take this one again. Let me keep it,” Shiro mumbled. 

Keith felt his heart tear. He didn’t know what Shiro was talking about but he was in pain, he was scared. The only thing that Keith held onto was that, despite how broken down he looked, he hadn’t given up, not completely. He was still fighting for, for whatever it was that they were taking from him.

“60 ticks,” Kolivan warned. 

“Come on, Shiro,” Keith said, stepping back and cutting Shiro loose from his bindings. “We’re going to get you out of here.” 

“But, I wasn’t awake for this,” Shiro mumbled as Keith lugged him off the table. “It wasn’t mine. You told me about it. And where are the others? Weren’t they here too? Am I rejecting the serum again?” 

Shiro’s legs were weak, buckling under him when they hit the floor and causing Keith to take the brunt of his weight. 

“Come on, Shiro, walk for me. Come on, you can do it,” Keith grunted, trying to haul Shiro to a better position to no avail. Keith tried walking with him, but it was clear that whatever sedative the Galra Medics had given to Shiro wasn’t wearing off fast enough. He would never get them both to Kolivan’s ship with Shiro moving at a snail’s pace. 

Keith huffed, sweeping an arm under Shiro’s knees. Shiro fell into his arms bridal style and Keith took off through the open door. Shiro held tight to Keith’s small frame. 

Shiro stared up at Keith’s face as he ran. It would have been distracting for Keith if he’d had a moment to look down or think about it, but he didn’t. He could hear galra soldiers being called to check the commotion he’d caused. He could hear their footsteps. He knew they were closing in. 

“LEFT!” Kolivan’s voice boomed through Keith’s ears, and this time, Keith listened, hanging a left. Almost directly after turning, another direction was given. He took it, his boots skidding on the floor under their combined weight. One more turn and he stopped dead in his tracks. He took a step back, holding Shiro tighter in his arms. 

In front of them was a line of six or seven Galra soldiers. Keith had no time to think, no time for a plan, before Kolivan was dropping down from the ceiling, taking out two soldiers. Keith let Shiro slide to his feet, steadier now, though still not fast enough. 

“Don’t let go,” Keith whispered to Shiro, curling Shiro’s hands in the material of his suit. He drew his sword, taking out one of the soldiers as they came to capture Shiro. Kolivan did most of the work, clearing out the soldiers while Keith kept Shiro safely tucked behind him. 

Kolivan waved an arm to follow him, and Keith pulled forward, pausing only to hoist Shiro onto his back as they ran. Shiro was still so weak, it made Keith grit his teeth in sorrow. 

They crashed into the ship, Kolivan manning the controls to take off immediately. Keith, on the other hand, couldn’t think of helping, he wouldn’t have even known where to begin. Because Shiro was coming to, waking up from the haze. He let Shiro slide to the floor and knelt beside him, cradling Shiro in his arms. 

“Keith?” Shiro asked. The ship rumbled beneath him and groaned over the sound of his soft voice, but Keith was close enough to hear every syllable. 

“It’s me, Shiro. It’s me. I’m here,” Keith said, nodding. 

“How’d you find me?” Shiro asked, his voice was hoarse and cracked and just as the thought of water was crossing Keith’s mind, Kolivan was there, kneeling beside them with an open bottle for Shiro. 

Keith seized it, putting the bottle to Shiro’s lips. 

“How I always do,” Keith said as Shiro drank. “You called to me.” 

“How did the Galra capture you? You were just on Coran’s broadcast show last night. Are the others safe?” Kolivan asked but Keith shook his head and lowered the water.

“It wasn’t him, he wasn’t captured last night, or today. The galra have had him since we beat Zarkon,” Keith said, eyes never leaving Shiro, who struggled to sit up taller in Keith’s arms. 

“What do you mean it wasn’t him?” Kolivan asked angrily. “Who was it then?” 

“Kuron,” Shiro said, voice less raspy. 

Both Keith and Kolivan paused, giving Shiro time to explain. 

“They. . . . I don’t know exactly what they did,” Shiro said, eyebrows knitting closer together, trying to remember through the haze of sedatives and experiments. “Cloned me, I guess. Took my memories. Gave them to. . . him. To Kuron.” 

“He’s a clone?” Keith asked. “We have to warn the others, we have to tell them now. He could be dangerous!” 

“He’s not,” Shiro said, breaking through Keith’s demand. “At least, he doesn’t know he is. He doesn’t know he’s a clone. He thinks. . . . he thinks he’s Shiro.” 

“So how do you know you’re really Shiro?” Kolivan asked, earning a sharp glare from Keith. 

“I. . . I guess I don’t,” Shiro answered. 

“Yes. You do. They were taking you’re memories, Shiro. Yours. Why would they take a clone’s memories? That doesn’t make any sense,” Keith demanded.

“We have to track Kuron,” Kolivan said, standing from his spot beside Shiro and Keith. “If he’s planning something, even subconsciously, we should be able to pick up on it now that we know what we’re looking for. I’ll leave you two.” 

Even though they were confined to the ship, Kolivan stepped aside, disappearing behind the pilot’s seat and re-opening manual controls. He was giving them privacy. 

“I didn’t think I would see you again, not the real you. They played my memories back. It felt so real, but, when I was lucid, I knew it was never really you. None of it was real,” Shiro said. He struggled to sit up, to give Keith his space, but Keith held tight, forcing Shiro to relax back into his arms. 

“I felt so wrong. After finding Kuron. I thought. . . . I led Voltron, Shiro. But when Kuron came. I felt so out of place. I should have known,” Keith gritted his teeth hard against each other, grinding them down until they hurt. He scrunched his eyes closed so hard that he could see stars. But tears still slipped out. “But I didn’t. I thought it was you. It felt so wrong. Me and him, we didn’t act like you and I do. It was so close, but something was off, and I ignored it. I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t had a mission on that ship, I never would have found you. I would have let you die.” 

“You knew,” Shiro said. He sounded so sure of that fact that it shocked Keith. His eyes popped open, releasing a fresh wave of fat tears. “You knew,” Shiro said with a chuckle. “If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have left Voltron. You were looking for answers, Keith. Even if you couldn’t ask the question, you knew it. You knew.” 

Keith ducked his head into Shiro’s neck, letting his tears roll onto Shiro’s pale skin. 

“How?” Keith asked. “You did it, didn’t you? You made him different for me. How?” 

Even with Keith’s questions, muffled and wet against his neck, Shiro understood. 

“I didn’t give them anything about us from our days at Garrison,” Shiro said, slowly lifting his hand to pet Keith’s dark hair. “They didn’t know. They didn’t look for it. I kept us a secret. Kuron has my love, but he doesn’t know why it’s there.”

Keith turned his head, pressing kisses to Shiro’s neck, his ears, his jaw. 

“I love you,” Keith said. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Shiro whispered back, tipping his head to catch Keith’s lips with his own.

**Author's Note:**

> so yes, just a little thing.  
> I didn't proof read this as well as i should have so let me know if you see any errors/typos! 
> 
>  
> 
> I want to get back into writing fanfics (and maybe finish up some fanfics that i've left hanging) so keep an eye out for my stuff!!!


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